Tiley Named National Coach of the Year
July 2, 1999 | Men's Tennis
May 26, 1999
After leading the Fighting Illini men's tennis team to its first NCAA Elite Eight appearance in school history, head coach Craig Tiley was honored as the top coach in the country. Tiley was named the National Coach of the Year after leading Illinois to a school-record 28 dual match wins and being ranked No. 2 in the country for much of the season.
"I greatly appreciate this honor but also know that such recognition is not possible unless you have great players to work with," Tiley said. "I've been very fortunate this year to have an unbelievable group of players that have been driven on a daily basis to accomplish their goals. This has been a great year and we plan on continuing to build on this success."
Tiley was nominated for the award after being named ITA Regional Coach of the Year for the third time in the past four seasons. He led the Illini to their third-straight Big Ten championship this season and guided the squad to its second-straight finals berth in the National Team Indoor Championships in February. Tiley accomplished all these feats despite an injury to returning All-American Gavin Sontag, who missed nearly three months after breaking a hip in the semifinals of the National Indoors in February.
Four Illinois players will be in action tomorrow, as Oliver Freelove faces Jerome Jourdan of South Carolina in the NCAA Singles Championship round of 32 at 8 a.m. central time and two Illini duos will be in action. The pair of Sontag and Jeff Laski play at 2 p.m. central time and the combo of Freelove and Cary Franklin will be in action at 3:30 p.m. central time.
